RWBuildRwanda Build Program
Kigali · Rwanda · Established 2018
RWBuild is a Kigali-based Entrepreneur Support Organization and venture-building platform. We develop technical talent, support founders, build deployable technology, and help promising ideas grow into sustainable companies.
About RWBuild
Strong innovation ecosystems need more than ideas — they need capable people, experienced guidance, disciplined product development, real-world testing, and pathways to opportunity. RWBuild brings these elements together in one operating platform in Kiyovu, Kigali, with real products validated at our own Rooftop Ikawa Café.
Members join RWBuild for the startup support and the community: hands-on training, workspace, equipment use, and senior mentoring — with structured pathways for strong projects toward venture support and funding readiness. We also open doors for developers and business-support professionals, connecting them to opportunities with the ventures we support.
Our model is continuous and practical: develop talent → form capable teams → build useful products → validate in the real world → grow ventures and partnerships. Since a 2017 pilot launched three startups in three months, RWBuild has grown into an established venture-building and technology platform in Kigali — contributing to national-scale public-interest technology and a portfolio of Kigali-built ventures.
Controlled pilot
Payments and business tools designed to help African SMEs manage transactions, customers, and day-to-day operations — unified wallets, one-scan merchant pay, mPOS for restaurants, invoicing, stock/inventory, advanced reporting, a no-code eShop, and rewards. Currently progressing through controlled market validation in Kigali.
Deployed with institutional partners
RWBuild contributed technology to 912Rwanda in collaboration with Rwanda’s health institutions and international academic partners — public-interest technology operating at national scale since 2023.
Operating in market — expanding
The MurugoCloud ecosystem — shared identity, services, and API backbone for ecosystem partner products: single sign-on, location services, notifications, developer tools, AI, and more.
Private beta — public access planned Q4 2026
AI agents for Kigali and the startup community, part of the MurugoCloud ecosystem. Public access opens Q4 2026 — and MurugoBot, floating right here on this page, is its face.
Operating in market
Kigali’s platform for discovering local events and happenings — and the ticketing engine behind RWBuild’s own event calendar.
Operating in market — iOS & Android
The free city-discovery guide for Kigali — restaurants, cafés, WiFi spots, and landmarks, with ratings, check-in badges, and taxi/moto fare estimates. Download the apps from the site.
Operating in private beta — expanding
Connecting developers and founders with jobs, teams, startups, and investors across Rwanda’s tech ecosystem.
In development
Original game titles from the RWBuild studio — exploration and strategy gaming, made in Kigali.
Operating in market — since 2017
The e-commerce boutique from our 2017 pilot — profitable and still delivering flowers and more across Kigali.
Final Beta
An AI-powered document assistant that helps teams draft, edit, and share business documents through real-time AI chat.
Community
RWBuild hosts 20+ events a year at the Rooftop Ikawa Café — our Startup Founder Talks series, demo days, developer meetups, and real-world product-testing nights — most of them open to Kigali’s developers and entrepreneurs.
Some Founders Talk sessions are now recorded live as episodes with our partner, The Voices Podcast. The series began as founders and ecosystem builders meeting socially over drinks — no stage, no script — talking candidly about the realities of building companies in Kigali. The podcast keeps that spirit: not a rehearsed interview or a product pitch, but experienced people exploring one important issue affecting founders and the wider ecosystem, recorded live at the Rooftop Ikawa Café. Real conversations that build better founders.
Every event doubles as a live test of the products our teams are building: the café is a working venue where ordering, payments, and ticketing run on RWBuild software. Want to host your own event there? Partner with us.
Announcements also on X / Twitter and Facebook.
Capacity building
The three-week Candidate Program intensives and the annual RWBuild Code Summit — delivered with government and ecosystem partners — have trained 200+ developers, with 90%+ of tracked graduates progressing to industry roles.
Life at RWBuild
In the news
RWBuild in Kigali
RWBuild is based in Kiyovu, Kigali, where teams build products, receive mentorship, test ideas, and convene with the wider ecosystem — with the Rooftop Ikawa Café adding a practical community and product-testing environment.
The café itself is open to the public: professionals are welcome to come get work done, hold meetings, and enjoy great coffee, cocktails, and a lunch and snack menu — right above the studio where Kigali’s next products are being built.